Thursday, June 1, 2017

Review: Dark Breaks the Dawn - Sara B. Larson

At the time of her 18th birthday, the Light kingdom has been at war with the Dark kingdom for over 10 years. As she just gains access to her powers, Princess Evelayn is charged with restoring balance to this land, but will she be able to master her powers in time?

I was so excited that Sara B. Larson was writing another series. I was a HUGE Defy fan, and was not disappointed with her new novel. Once again, Larson gave us strong female lead in Evelayn, but under the surface was a young woman, who was struggling with the responsibilities that were thrust upon her before she was ready. Evelayn had just come into her powers, and had yet to master them, but now she was charged with saving her kingdom! That in and of itself was quite stressful, but then she was weighed down with being the last of her line, and was being pressured to marry and produce an heir as soon as possible. I don't know about you, but my head would be spinning, and Larson did an admirable job relaying those feelings to the reader. The stress, the worry, the panic; I really shared in all Evelayn's emotions, and really wanted her to succeed.

"And she had already been forced to become a queen, to shoulder the burden of a war, to learn to wield her power all at once...."

I found the world and its magical elements quite thrilling. The way they could smell emotions, and use light as a weapon. The way the royals could shift into animal forms, and even the rules associated with how the power was passed from generation to generation was quite intriguing. It was presented in small chunks, so as to avoid info dumps, and I thought Larson painted a vivid picture for me.

"Light and Dark Draiolon had been gifted their powers to bring day and night, summer and winter, to the world - to work together to create a perfect harmony."

The story is filled with many interesting characters, but I immediately fell for the high lord, Tanvir. I knew he was special from that first meeting between him and Evelayn, and my love for him just grew and grew from there. I was shipping those two from the start, and even though what happened happened, I still believe in this ship. After all, this is a fantasy, anything is possible.

"You're stubborn and headstrong, but you're also so determined...so brave. I want to throttle you and kiss you -- all at once."

The story moved along briskly, once the major plan to save the kingdom was hatched. There was plenty of action and harrowing situations to put me on edge, but that ending! There are two ways books in a series can end. The author can either close a story arc and open another OR they can leave you with a broken heart and a cliffhanger. Larson opted for the latter. I definitely shed a few tears there, and I do understand her choice, as this is only planned as a duology, but my heart! My aching heart!

One of my new favorite things is to read the afterword when I finish a book. That is where I learned about how this story was inspired by Swan Lake, and is sort of the prequel to that story. I have seen parts of this ballet performed, but didn't really know the story. What I have learned is that, there was a prince, who was hunting. He was going to kill this swan, but then she transformed into a human princess. The princess was under the spell of an evil sorcerer, and could only be saved by a prince, who would vow a lifetime of fidelity to her. I can easily spot the threads of Swan Lake woven into this tale, and appreciate Larson's interpretation.

Overall: A fast-paced journey into a new and lush world, ending in a somewhat heartbreaking cliffhanger, which left me wanting for the next book.

**I would like to thank Edelweiss and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. Quotes are from an ARC and may change upon publication.

Sadly, as excited as I was for this book, I didn't like it. It felt lackluster compared to her previous trilogy (which I loved). I've never seen Swan Lake so that comparison was lost on me BUT I'm sure the author did a pretty good job with the retelling/prequel!

This book was not Defy, but I see a lot of promise for the next book. I went and read up on Swan Lake, because I was trying to see how this worked with that story, and I think Larson created a good start for that story.

I've heard great things about Sara B. Larson, but I haven't had the chance to read anything by her yet. Lately I've been feeling a bit burned out on retellings, although I have to admit that the idea of a Swan Lake one has me intrigued. Cliffhangers are so brutal though!

Cliffhangers are the worst! I guess it's ok if you expect them, and since this was sold as a duology, I knew there had to be a cliffhanger at the end. I always find re-tellings kind of fun, because I like looking for the parallels between the new and old version. This is a prequel, so it's all made up, but I can see why Larson chose what she chose given the source material.

This sounds like a great book. I like that the author sort of slowly built the world and the powers without being a total info dump that drives me nuts and I feel totally overwhelmed when reading books like that. Great review!!